Father killed, 6-year-old boy injured in triple shooting in Southwest Philly

The man killed in a triple shooting that also injured a 6-year-old boy in Southwest Philadelphia on Wednesday night was the boy’s father, police said Thursday.

Joshua Butts, 28, was shot in the chest shortly before 7:20 p.m. Wednesday as he, his son, and another man sat in a white Ford Taurus next to Harrington Elementary School on the 800 block of South 53rd Street.

Chief Inspector Scott Small said one or more shooters approached the vehicle and fired at least 12 times.

Butts, of West Philadelphia, was rushed by police to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where he died about two hours later. His son was shot in the stomach and lower back, and the other man, 29, was shot in the chest. .

A police spokesperson said Thursday that the boy was hospitalized at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He is awake, and surrounded by family, and remains in critical but stable condition, police sources said.

Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw told reporters Wednesday at the scene: “We don’t know if those responsible knew that there was a 6-year-old in the car, but someone had to know that there was a 6-year-old there. So, it not only takes it up a notch, but it just sickens me. It sickens all of us, and we’re tired of seeing this, quite frankly.”

Investigators have not identified a possible motive in the attack but say the Ford Taurus had been targeted. Neither Butts nor the other man was known by police, who have not ruled out that the attack may have been a case of mistaken identity.

Patrol cars were nearby when the gunfire erupted, and after he was shot, the 29-year-old man, who was a passenger in the car, stumbled to a police cruiser at 53rd Street and Baltimore Avenue, police say. Butts tried to drive but crashed into some parked cars at 55th Street and Angora Terrace, where police found him and his son.

Police found bullet holes in the windshield, hood, and the door on the driver’s side. The perpetrator may have fled the scene in a white sedan with tinted windows, police said.

Butts’ relatives declined comment Thursday.

His slaying was one of three fatal shootings in the city Wednesday. No arrests were reported and the motives remained unclear in each.

About two hours before the triple shooting, a 16-year-old boy was shot in the neck and killed on the 2900 block of North Taney Street in North Philadelphia. The victim, Kadeem Green, lived several blocks away.

Green’s sister, Shana, 21, stood in front of the family’s home Thursday afternoon trying to make sense of his slaying and who would target him. ”I have no clue at all, I don’t even know,” she said. Kadeem attended Lincoln High before the pandemic shutdown and often frequented the area of Taney Street where he was shot.

With tears streaming down her face, she said her brother was a typical teenager, who hung out with friends and pumped gas for pocket money. ”He didn’t bother nobody. He didn’t get in any trouble or nothing like that,” she said.

In a separate homicide about 3:50 a.m. Wednesday, 21-year-old Tyrell Jones was shot several times while sitting inside a Nissan Pathfinder on the 2100 block of Furley Street in East Germantown, police said. Jones, who lived on that block, died shortly afterward at Albert Einstein Medical Center, police said.

The homicides occurred as the city continues to grapple with a rise in gun violence, and as officials and community advocates search for solutions.

So far in the city this year, there have been 145 homicides, most from shootings, a 32% increase compared with the same period last year, according to police statistics. And there have been 573 people shot in the city this year, a 41% jump from last year, and an 84% rise from the 311 shootings at the same point five years ago.

On Wednesday, Philadelphia officials announced they are redoubling their efforts to invest in community-based programs with the goal of reducing shootings in the city by 30% over the next two years.

Last week, more than a dozen federal law enforcement officials, including acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams, stood with Outlaw to pledge more support for investigating and prosecuting violent crime cases.

Staff writers Mike Newall and Robert Moran contributed to this article.